Fastener



Sept. 11, 1951 l.. E. CARSON 2,567,508

FASTENER Original Filed Dec. 4, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l .L EzzzzFEJmEE. L' 21e-0.27

Sept. 11, 1951 E CARSON 2,567,508

FASTENER Original Filed Dec. 4, 1944 l 2 Shets-Sheet 2 zUPEJmEE/ 1:50.27

Patented Sept. 11, 1951 FASTENER Lawrence E. Carson, Alhambra, Calif.

Continuation of application Serial No. 566,413, December 4, 1944. This application December 19, 1947, Serial No. 792,787

Claims.

This invention relates to fasteners adapted to be' quickly and easily applied and released; and although, as shown in the accompanying drawings and described herein, the fastener' is particularly adapted and designed to be used for temporarily securing parts together, it may also be used as a permanent fastener, or as an anchor or the like to which something else may be attached;

The general object of the invention is to provide a' fastener of the type indicated, of extreme simplicity and highv effectiveness, coupled with ease and simplicity of manipulation and low manufacturing cost; Other characteristic features of the invention will bev best understood from a consideration of various typical forms which my fastener may take and` which are illustrated in the' accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a sectional view of one preferred form of fastener, showing it as used for securing two sheets or plates together;

Fig. 2' is a similar viewr showing the fastener released;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the fastener in the position of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is' an end elevation and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of another form of fastener in its released position, Figs. 7 and 8 being similar views showing that fastener in its applied position;

Figs. 9, 10 and 1l are sectional views showing another form of the fastener in its several positions of application and release;

Fig. 12 is a plan of the fastener shown in Fig. 10';

Figs. 13 and 14 are sectional views showing another form of the fastener in its positions of release and application;

Figs. 15 and 1'6 are sectional views showing a modification of a fastener of the type of Figs. 13 and 14, and

Figs. 17 and 18 are sectional views showing a modified form of fastener adapted to be secured or anchored in a bore.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4, the form of fastener which is there shown is composed fundamentally of three parts; an expansive anchor I0, a base II and a camming member I2. As in several of the different forms shown in the drawings, anchor member Ill is made in a general U-formation, of resilient wire or other suitable material, and preferably prestressed to take normally the collapsed positionv shown in Fig. 2; As is also common to several of the other forms illustrated, base II is formed of a resilient metal, pre-stressed like a spring washer to take nor- `mally the sectionally curved configuration shown in Fig. 2. This spring base is substantially flat in conformation, is of the nature of and acts like leaf spring, and whenA resiliently compressed `n thickness may be completely flat. This spring washer carries the anchor deflecting member which, in this case, is in the form of a wedge I3 lying between the legs of the U-shaped anchor. The generalv function of camming member I2 is, relatively, to lift anchor' IIlV from such a position asr shown in Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 1, and to press base II and the anchor deflecting member I3v down relatively, from the position shown in Fig. 2 toA the position shown in Fig'. l. As shown in Fig. 1, and as is common to all forms, the camming member bears directly on the flat spring base.

In preferred detail, anchor member IIJ, of general U-shape, has two legs I4 extending from head portion I5, the legs near the head being -bent outwardly as shown at I6Y to accommodate the wedge I3Y when the parts are in the released position of Fig. 2. In that position legs I4 converge inwardly toward each other, so thatA the lateral projections-shoulder forming projections II--at or near the ends of the two legs may be readily passed into or through the opening or openings' I8 in the one or more sheets or plates o'f other members I9l which the fastener is designed to secureA together, or to which the fastener is to be' secured.

In preferred form, base IIV may be circular in plan, and wedge I3 formed by punching out two wedge forming lips 20 which are bent down and angularly toward each other andunder a central web 2lV which lies between the two openings 22 from which the lips have been punched. An chor legsv I4 extend through those punched-out openings.

Camming member I2 is preferably made in substantially the configuration shown in the drawing, and may be hollow, as illustrated, although not necessarily so. It is provided on one side with a flat face 25, adapted to press and rest flatly on base washerV I I when the parts are in the position of Fig. 1. Extending around one end, and merging with the face 26 which is opposite face 25, the camming member has a camming surface 21 which may be generally circular in form. The' particular form and design of end portion 28' of the camming member, opposite the camming end 21, is of nor critical consequence, although a design like that shown in the drawings is preferred for reasons which will be pointed out. Member |2 is provided in its cam end with a longitudinal slot 30 which is crossed by a slot bridging web 3|, preferably in about the relative position and configuration illustrated. The web is preferably integral with the body of the camming member; the whole member may be made of formed metal or of a plastic molding. And preferably web 3| lies in such an inwardly recessed position, with relation to camming surface 21 and top surface 26 that, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 the head portion I5 of anchor I0 does not project materially above the top surface of the camming member. That provision, and the illustrated conguration of the camming member, provide that the whole device in the position of Fig. 1 shall make a minimum projection above the surface of I9 and also a projection which forms a smoothly rounded protuberance.

When the fastener is to be applied, the parts are put into some such position as shown in Fig. 2,y with camming member I2 thrown over to the position there shown. In that general relative position of the parts, the contracted anchor I is pressed into or through openings I8; and normally it may be pressed further into the openings than is shown in Fig. 2, until head portion |rests on web 3|. Then, as camming member I2 is thrown over toward the right, web 3| rises under head l5, rst lifting the head to some such position as shown in Fig. 2. Further upward movement of the anchor then brings the leg portions I6 into contact with wedge |3 and expands the anchor to the relative position shown in Fig. 1 with its shoulders |1 either out against the wall of an opening I8, or expanded under the inside or lower face |9a of a part |9. Further movement of camming member |2 pulls the anchor relatively upwardly until, for instance, shoulder portions |1 engage face |9a. After shoulders |1 have engaged face |9a, further and nal movement of the camming member presses spring base down from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 1, pressing wedge I3 down toward or between the straight portions |4 of the anchor legs. In the nal position, the at lower face 25 of the camming member rests upon base I I, which has been relatively flattened out, and web 3| is located centrally of the anchor head I5 and centrally over wedge I3. And it will be noted that the flat bottom face 25 extends under web 3|, so that the device is self-locking in the position of Fig. 1.

The resilient compressibility of base allows for a substantial variation in the total thickness of the plate or plates I9 which any given fastener will take. The fasteners may be manufactured `to take different thicknesses, simply by providing anchor members with different leg lengths, in increments of some suitable dimension, say lg". And then the resilient compressibility of base I I takes care of variations within that 1/8" or so.

The anchor member and the cam member may take various forms. Figs. 5 to 8 illustrate some of the variations. There the anchor member |0| is again of general U-shape, but with its legs |4| lying close together when the anchor member is laterally collapsed, which is preferably its prestressed normal condition. 'Ihe member has a head in the form of an eye |5|, and its lateral shoulder extensions at the ends of its legs are formed as shown at |1| by doubling back the ends of the legs.

Cam member |2| has a body which is generally circular, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, and bounded by the circular cam surface 21|. A manipulting handle 28| projects from the body. The body is generally in the form of a flat disk with an aperture at 30| through which the anchor eye |5| extends, this aperture being eccentric to the circle of the body as shown in Figs. 6 and 8. The part of the circular body which is furthest removed from aperture 30| is thickened, as illustrated at |3| (Fig. 7) and the sides of the body around camming edge 21| are provided with beveled edges |3|a which slope outwardly to the faces of thickened portion |3| as is illustrated in Fig. '1.

When camming member |2| is rotated from the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, to the position shown in Figs. '1 and 8, the bevel-edged thinner part of the body |3|b first enters between the contracted legs |4I; and then as the camming member is swung further around, the thicker part of the camming member wedges the legs further apart to the position shown in Fig. 7 at the same time that the camming member, riding on the upper surface of I9 (or on a washer base such as has been described) raises the legs to the clamping position shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Figs. 9 to 12 show another modication which diiers mainly from Fig. 1 by having its anchor member in the form of a single rod or pin |42 which has a laterally offset shoulder head |12 on one side of its lower end. Its upper end has the aperture or eye |52 which takes a transverse web 3|2 that bridges the slot 302 in one of the walls of a tubular camming member |22. The opposite wall of this tubular member is provided with a corresponding slot 302a, and the slotted end of the member is formed with the curved camming face 212 as shown.

Spring base ||2 is generally similar to the spring base described in connection with Fig. 1, but instead of having an anchor spreading wedge, it has an anchor deflecting or displacing tongue |32 which extends down along one side of anchor leg |42. Tongue |32 is punched out of the washer material, forming the slot 2122, through which-anchor leg |42 extends. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 9 the anchor may be inserted through the opening or openings in I9. Then by turning the anchor and camming member to the position shown in Fig. 10 the anchoring shoulder |12 is turned to a position under the lower face of |9. Then, by throwing the camming member over, the anchor member is first drawn up until shoulder projection |12 engages the under face of I9; and the final action is to resiliently compress the spring washer ||2.

Figs. 13 and 14 show a form which is similar to that of Fig. 9, differing mainly in the form of the anchoring member. In essentials, the camming member |23 of Fig. 13 is substantially the same as in Fig. 9 and need not be described in detail; and also in essentials the spring washer base |3 is substantially the same except that its downwardly projecting deecting member |33, instead 0f being merely or essentially a flat tongue as in Fig. 9, is perfectly semi-cylindric so as to partially encompass the anchor member |03. In this form the anchor member has an eye |53 at its upper end which takes the bridge web 3|3 of the camming member. At its lower end the anchor leg |43 has a shoulder-forming projection |13 and then, below that shoulderforming projection, the lower end of the leg is acca-soa extended downwardly 4and diagonally, as shown vat |13a, to project laterally 'to that side Qf :leg V|113 which is opposite the'shoulder'iorming projection |13.

As the camming member is `thrown Afrom the position of Fig. 13 yto the position of Fig. 14 the anchor member lis drawn upwardly and the diagonal portion 113e is wedged over :to the lef-t by `the displacement tongue |33. Shoulder |13 is thus moved laterally 'to a vpositionunder the face of i9; and then as resilient Washer Jbase ||3 is finally compressed, `the relative .downward ,movement of |33 tends to move :|13 over toward the left more tightly and .solidly into engagement .with |19. rThe lateral 4wedging action fof thesingle leg anchor of Figs. 13 and 14 is thus analogous `to the Acorresponding .actions yof the double vleg anchor of Fig. 1. The legis rst wedged laterally `as it is drawn up under the lower face vof I9; .and then the leg displacing `member is moved down in further wedging relation to the leg as the resilient-base iscompressed.

Figs. and 16 show an anchor and base formation which may be used, for instance, with any of the camming members shown in Figs.

1, 5, 9 or 13. The spring washer base ||f4 is similar to that of Figs. 13 and 14, except that its downwardly extending anchor displacement member |34 is in full vtubular form with a 'slot |34a at one side through which the shoulderforming projection |14 may project. The lanchor leg |44 has a lateral camming projection vIllia below the anchoring shoulder |14,-similar yin general formation to |13a. of Fig. '13. 'But"here, in-

stead of the anchor member being wedged over toward the left by being raised vinto engagement with the end of the displacement member v(as with the end of |33 in Fig. 14) the tubular member |34 is provided with an interior wedging projection |3412. The general action is similar to that of Figs. 13 and '14, as will be understood without further detailed description.

Without the necessity of specific illustration, it will be understood how any of the forms vin which the anchor member is wedged laterally, may be wedgingly anchored in a hole. For instance in the form of Figs. 1 and 2 if I9 were to be considerably thicker, and the hole or lholes I8 suitably larger so that in the position of Fig. 2 `the anchor portions l1 vwould lie within the hole, then the outward wedging action which takes place as the parts are thrown to the position of Fig. 1 would wedge the projection |1 outwardly against opposite walls of the hole. And in Figs. 13 and 15, under similar conditions, the projection |13, or |14 would be wedged laterally against a wall of such a hole. Applied in such a manner, the fasteners may be used as anchors for securing any `article to or against a wall or other structure, or as anchors to which wires, etc. maybe attached. Figs. 17 and v18 show -a double legged form of anchor applied to anchorage within a hole, and illustratively utilized for securing a plate or sheet '|55 to'any structure which has the anchoring hole |85 init.

'I'he particular 'form of fastener which is shown in Figs. 17 and 18 is analogous both to the 'form shown in Fig. 1 and those shown in Figs. 13 and 15; in that the anchor member itself is double legged and that the wedging or displacement member preferably extends downwardly between the legs and has its wedging action on the latter at or near their lower ends. The anchor member |05 is again of general U-shape with a head portion hanging on the bridging web 3|5 of camming member |25. The camming member is essentially like that which has been .described :in connection with 'Fig'. 11. The legs |45 .are l,preferably bowed inwardly Ktoward each other as illustrated, and :a relatively long deecting or wedging tongue |i35fdepends between them from the base .I I5.. This .base may or may :not have the resilient .compressibility which has been before described; and if it Thas resilient compressi- -bility that need not vbe .as large as is desirable lwhen Vthe `fastener is acting between two opposite .faces of sheets .or plates.

N ear'their lower .ends the anchorlegs have the 'anchoring-.projections |115, and below |15 the leg ends .are :bent inwardly as at |L Vto form wedging faces to cooperate with the lower end of .tongue |35. Theaction of this form of fastener will lbe apparent :from what has been said and from Figs. 17 .and 18. The lower ends of the legs `are .spread and projections |15 forcibly engage the 'hole walls .as the anchor is drawn up onto tongue |35. If 'base y| |`5 is resiliently compressible it may give under compression just be- =fore the Ileg ends |15a, in their upward movement in `the hole, reach `the fully expanded condition shown vin Fig. 18. The nal movement of camming member |25 then flattens base ||5 and forces tongue |35 down between the then sta- :tionary legs, 'forcing lugs |15 more tightly into engagement with the 'hole walls. If base ||5 is not compressible then the legs reach their nal .position with reference to tongue |35 by upward movement of the legs in the hole.

A fastener o'f the general form of Figs. 17 and 18 -that is, with the leg spreading action at or near the lower ends ofthe legs is particularly 4useful in securing together thick plates, or sheets or plates which are spaced apart. Of course, for thick, or spaced plates, `the legs of any of the described forms can be appropriately lengthened; `but if the legs lare Very long it is advantageous to have the leg spreading or deflecting action at or near the end.

The specific vstructures that have been described, referring particularly to the inclusion of a base member which is resiliently compressible in thickness, represent illustrative preferred embodiments of the invention. However, as has already been pointed out in -relation'to Figs. 17 and v18; the base member can valso beof a nonresilient type, the `inherent resiliency of other parts of the structure :such as the anchor legs then providing suflicient exibility to compensate 'for small dimensional variations in the work. The added 'resilience of .the spring type 'base 'is preferred in general, f or the reasons already discussed.

This .application `is aeontinuation of my pre- Vious .application Serial 566,413, now abandoned, iiled December 4, 1944. YReference.ismade to my copending application Ser. 698,625, led September23, 1946, nowPatent No. 2,514-,692,.dated July 11, v19,50, zin which `the specic form of fast- .ener .shown .in Figs. 5 `to `'1., inclusive, is-made a part of the subject-matter. Claims .-specically directed ,to that form of ,the fastener :are made in that application and not here.

I claim:

1. A fastener including in combination an anchor comprising a leg adapted to be inserted endwise in an opening which extends inwardly from an outer face of a plate or the like and having an anchoring formation at its inner insertible end and a head at its outer end, an anchor moving cam directly rotatably mounted Vor the like, adapted to be resiliently compressed in effective thickness by being pressed against the plate, but being substantially non-distortible inits own plane, locating means adapted to extend into the opening in the plate and to limit movement'of the base transversely of the opening in one direction, the leg and the base having cooperating wedging portions which act to wedge the leg transversely of the opening in the opposite direction into anchoring position in the opening by reason of relative longitudinalmovement between the leg and the base, said cam being adapted by rotation to press directly against the base to compress the base inwardly against `the plate face and to exert longitudinal tension on the leg to move it outwardly longitudinally with reference to thebase and thereby to wedge the leg transversely into anchoring position in the opening.

2. A fastener comprisingk in combination an anchor member substantially of elongate U-shape whose legs are adapted to be inserted endwise in an opening which extends inwardly. from an outer face of a plate or thelike, said anchor member having anchoring formations at the inner insertible ends of its legs, an anchor moving cam directly rotatablymounted on the legconnecting portion of the U-Shaped anchor and adapted to rotate in a plane which is parallel to the plane of the U-forrnation, said cam having a cam face which is eccentric to theaxis of rotation of the cam, and a substantially fiat spring base lying inwardly of the cam, surrounding the anchor legs and adapted to lie against the outer face of the plate or the like, the spring basebeing provided with a leg spreading wedging member lying between the anchor legs, and the legs having cooperative wedging formations, whereby the legs are spread when they are moved outwardly with relation to the base, said cam being adapted by rotation to press inwardly on the spring base to compress the base inwardly in effective thickness and to move the anchor outwardly with reference to the base.

3. A fastener comprising in combination an anchor member substantiallyof elongate U-shape whose legs areladapted to be inserted endwise in an opening which extends inwardly from an outer face of a plate or the like, an anchor moving cam directly rotatably associated with the leg-connecting portion ofthe U-shaped anchor and adapted to rotate in a plane parallel to the length of the anchor and having a cam face eccentric to its axis of rotation, a substantially flat resilient base surrounding the anchor legs inwardly of the cam, adapted to lie iiatly against the outer face of the plate or the like, adapted to be resiliently compressed in effective thickness by being pressed against the plate, but being substantially non-distortible in :its own plane, the resilient base having a leg spreading wedging formation lying between the anchor legs, and the legs having cooperative wedging formations,

8 l whereby rotation of the cam presses inwardly on the base to compress it inwardly and moves the anchor outwardly with reference to the base and the anchor legs are spread.

4. lA fastener as defined in claim 3 and in which the base is a substantially flat base plate having apertures therein through which the anchor legs extend, at least one of said apertures being formed by folding portions of the base plate out of the plane of the plate, and in which the said leg spreading wedging formation comprises the said folded portion of the base plate.

I 5. A fastener comprising in combination an anchor member substantially of elongate U-shape whose legs are adapted to be inserted endwise in an opening which extends inwardly from an outer face of-,a plateV or the like, ahousing adapted to enclose substantiallycompletely that portion of the. anchor member that protrudes outwardly from the opening, the said housing being elongated and having a substantially flat longitudinal face extending substantially its entire length, a generally cylindrical camming face at one end ofthe housing extending vthrough about and having one end substantially tangent to the flat face, vthe other end of the housing comprising a handle formation, a slotsubstantially bisecting the camming face in a plane normal to the flat face of the housing, and a bridge across the slot adjacent the other end of the camming face, the leg-connecting portion of the anchor member lying in the plane of, and substantially within, the said slot adjacent the bridgewith one of the anchor legs extending on each side of the bridge, a substantially flat and relatively thin base surrounding the anchor legs inwardly of the housing and adapted to lie against the outer face of the plate or the like when the anchor legs are inserted in the opening, the base carrying a wedging formation lying between the anchor legs, and the legs carrying cooperating wedging formations `whereby the anchor legs are spread by longitudinal movement of the base toward the ends of the legs, the housing being rotatable relative to the anchor member about the bridge as an axis between an anchor releasing position with the anchor legs relatively extended from the housing and an anchor securing position with the anchor legs relatively withdrawn into the housing, and with the base lying flatly against the fiat face of the housing and pressed thereby longitudinally of the legs to spread them into anchoring position in the opening, and with the handle formation lying flatly against the outer face of the plate or the like.

. LAWRENCE E. CARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 228,697 Thompson June 8, 1880 1,434,345 Johnson 1---- Oct. 31, 1922 2,230,769 Tegerdine Feb. 4, 1941 2,321,518 Rossmann June 8, 1943 

